Buffalo Bills denied opening-day upset by Patriots

Sunday

Sep 8, 2013 at 7:01 PMSep 8, 2013 at 7:01 PM

By Paul A. Jannace Wellsville Daily Reporter

Doug Marrone and E.J. Manuel took very little solace in another close call with the New England Patriots. Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 35-yard field goal with five seconds left to rally the New England Patriots to a 23-21 win over the Buffalo Bills in Sunday's season opener at Ralph Wilson Stadium.The Bills, who have now lost 19 of their last 20 against the Patriots, led 21-17 with 11 minutes left in the third quarter following an 18-yard touchdown pass from the rookie Manuel to Stevie Johnson."You talk about a sense of disappointment, it is devastating," said Marrone, the Bills' first-year head coach. "We put in a lot of work and we're going to get better, but we know what the people want and we know what the region wants."When we go out there and we have opportunities and you can't win that game, I'm letting them down, we all are letting people down."Gostkowski cut the Bills' lead to a point with a 33-yard field goal with 10:48 to go, then Tom Brady led the Patriots down the field for the game-winning score. Brady completed all seven of his passes on the deciding drive, including four to Danny Amendola. On a third-and-8 from the Buffalo 39, Brady hit Amendola over the middle for a first down and Shane Vereen followed with a 15-yard run on the next play to set up the winning kick."If I had a dollar for every tough one with those guys, it makes me vomit," said Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams.It spoiled the debut of Manuel, who threw for two touchdowns and went 18-of-27 for 150 yards."I'm always critical of myself because I don't like to make mistakes twice," said Manuel. "I really don't like to make them once, if not twice. We lost, so I can't really say we did this great, we did that great. At the end of the day you want to win."Brady finished 29-of-52 for 288 yards and Amendola caught 10 passes for 104 yards."You've just got to keep fighting, that's what it's all about," said Amendola, who left the game briefly in the first half with a groin injury. "It's a long game, it's a physical game, and it's honestly a fight out there every play."Vereen rushed for a game-high 101 yards on 14 carries and also caught seven passes for 58 yards.The Bills were hurt by 10 penalties for 75 yards and two turnovers that led to 14 New England points."We've got to focus on the little things, then everything else will take care of itself," said Bills running back Fred Jackson. "There are some plays out there that we normally make that we didn't make today. There are self-inflicted things that we did to ourselves that you can't do against a team like that."C.J. Spiller fumbled on the Bills' second play from scrimmage and Brady connected with Julian Edelman from nine yards out three plays later to give New England a 7-0 lead.However, the Patriots turned the ball over three times and the Bills took advantage to erase a 17-7 deficit."We let them back in the game with some turnovers, but then we fought our way out of it and we were able to make some plays in the end to win," said New England head coach Bill Belichick.Da'Norris Searcy, who sacked Brady earlier in the game, returned a Steven Ridley fumble 74 yards for a touchdown to make it 10-7 midway through the second quarter.Edelman's second touchdown catch just after the two-minute warning gave the Patriots a 10-point lead. Edelman finished with seven catches for 79 yards.Justin Rogers then intercepted a ball bobbled by Patriots tight end Zach Sudfeld and Manuel hit Robert Woods from 18 yards out two plays later to make it 17-14 at halftime. It was the first NFL touchdown for both Manuel and Woods.It had mostly been a first half to forget for the Bills before Searcy's touchdown. The Bills had seven of their penalties for 55 yards in a first half in which they amassed only 137 yards of total offense.The Bills took the lead on the opening possession of the second half on Manuel's touchdown to Johnson.New England answered with a 15-play, 79-yard drive, but the Bills' defense held when Brady fumbled on a 4th-and-goal from inside the 1. Kiko Alonso recovered the fumble and returned it to Buffalo 14.Jackson led the Bills with 67 yards rushing on 13 carries and four catches for 41 yards. Spiller was held to only 41 yards on 13 carries, but had a team-high five receptions for only 14 yards."I'm pretty sure (other teams) are going to try to come in and stop the run," said Spiller. "I'd be surprised if any team didn't do that and we know that going into the game. We just have to try to find ways to counter them."The Bills had just 28 total yards of offense in the fourth quarter, including failing to convert a pair of third downs in the final nine minutes."They made the plays when they had the opportunity, but we left a lot out there," said Jackson.The Bills will try to bounce back at home against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, while the Patriots have a quick turnaround to host the New York Jets Thursday night."We didn't execute great, but the boys made some clutch plays when they needed to," said Brady. "We hung in there and battled and just made it out with a victory."Notebook: The fumble return was Searcy's first NFL touchdown and the Bills' first fumble return for a score since Spencer Johnson did it against Denver on Dec. 24, 2011 … Bills WR Marquise Goodwin left the game with a hand injury … The Bills announced the attendance for the game as 65,519 … Johnson's 26th career touchdown reception put him in sole possession of 7th place on the franchise's all-time list … Johnson also became the third Bills player to score a touchdown in three consecutive opening games, joining O.J. Simpson (1969-71) and Thurman Thomas (1990-92) … Brady became the 9th player in NFL history eclipse 45,000 passing yards … Patriots LB Jerod Mayo had a game-high 15 tackles.